“I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska’s natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs,” Governor Palin said. “The steps taken by the Alaska State Legislature this past week demonstrate that we are ready, willing and able to supply the energy our nation needs.”

In a speech given in Lansing, Michigan, Senator Obama called for the completion of the Alaska natural gas pipeline, stating, “Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production. And we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process.”

Governor Palin also acknowledged the Senator’s proposal to offer $1,000 rebates to those struggling with the high cost of energy.

“We in Alaska feel that crunch and are taking steps to address it right here at home,” Governor Palin said. “This is a tool that must be on the table to buy us time until our long-term energy plans can be put into place. We have already enjoyed the support of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, and it is gratifying to see Senator Obama get on board.”

The Governor did question the means to pay for Obama’s proposed rebate — a windfall profits tax on oil companies. In Alaska, the state’s resource valuation system, ACES, provides strong incentives for companies to re-invest their profits in new production.

“Windfall profits taxes alone prevent additional investment in domestic production. Without new supplies from American reserves, our dependency and addiction to foreign sources of oil will continue,” Governor Palin said.

McCain and I are not on the same Iraq page, Palin says

By Carrie Melago, Daily News Staff Writer:Two weeks before she was tapped as the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin compared herself to Barack Obama - and said she didn't see eye-to-eye with John McCain on the Iraq war.In an interview with The New Yorker, Palin said her gubernatorial campaign in Alaska had striking similarities to Obama's since her theme was also "new energy."She said that the Democrat's strong showing in Alaska had people in the traditionally Republican state "wigging out," but not her.

Palin went on to say that she is "hard-core Republican" on issues of gun control and abortion, but that she doesn't consider herself overly partisan and doesn't even speak to her state's GOP leader. She said McCain similarly has been "buttin' heads with Republicans for years," calling that a "healthy place to be."She was less enthusiastic when it came to his stance on the war in Iraq."I'm a mom, and my son is going to get deployed in September, and we better have a real clear plan for this war," she said. "And it better not have to do with oil and dependence on foreign energy."Now Cindy McCain has something else to say about her husbands new girlfriend:

Alaskan and Russian islands are fewer than 3 miles apart in the Bering Strait. The two mainlands are about 55 miles apart.

Reminded that Democrats are calling Palin too inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, she responded by saying that Palin's son is about be deployed to Iraq.

"I asked her, how do you feel about this? This is two things you have to do, is not only possibly be a vice presidential candidate, but also, you know, listen, to worry about your son," Cindy McCain recounted of her conversation with Palin before the vice presidential announcement. "And she looked me square in the eye and she said, 'You know something? I'm a mother. I can do it.'"[What??? two weeks ago she was less enthusiastic when it came to his (McCain's) stance on the war in Iraq."I'm a mom, and my son is going to get deployed in September, and we better have a real clear plan for this war,"]

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, his party's 2004 presidential nominee, disputed Palin's credentials a few minutes later on the show, saying the Alaska governor has "zero, zero experience in foreign policy."

It's unusual for the spouse of a presidential candidate to go on a Sunday talk show, but Cindy McCain used her 10 minutes to defend her husband from charges of elitism.

She also signaled she'd want to focus on humanitarian crises as first lady, talking about her meetings in Georgia last week with refugees of the recent Russian invasion.

Georgia "is a wonderful, young democracy," McCain said. "We can't let it go. We can't let a country come back in and take it back down to a Soviet-style government. This is democracy, and that's what we're all about."

She added: "The United States is the best at what we do. We're the ones that give the most and give the earliest, every time something happens. And I'd like to continue that, and also encourage others to get involved. You don't have to cross an ocean to be of help."

McCain bristled at charges by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama that her husband is out of touch with most Americans because of the eight homes their family owns.

"My husband was a Navy boy. His father and mother were in the Navy. I mean, there's nothing elitist about that," she said. "I'm offended by Barack Obama saying that about my husband."